Training Available for Counselors

Only physicians with SAMHSA waivers can prescribe buprenorphine. But physicians aren't the only ones who need to learn about this new option for treating opioid addiction.

To ensure that counselors and other health care providers have the information they need, SAMHSA's Central East Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) offers an online course called Buprenorphine Treatment of Opioid Addiction: A Counselor's Guide. Available at the Central East ATTC Web site, this free, self-paced training prepares counselors to advise patients and families, and to work with physicians who provide buprenorphine-based treatment. The course covers buprenorphine's effects, efficacy, and safety as well as the counselor's role in treatment.

Soon a curriculum for use in on-site trainings will also be available. An adaptation of the online course, this curriculum is being developed by representatives from SAMHSA's ATTCs and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Working together to increase awareness of buprenorphine among health care providers, this "Blending Team" is an outgrowth of a 2001 agreement between SAMHSA and NIDA designed to speed up the process of bringing research findings into actual practice. (See SAMHSA News, Fall 2002.)

"There are plenty of resources for physicians interested in buprenorphine," said Suman Rao, Ph.D., a health scientist administrator in NIDA's Office of Science Policy and Communication. "But we recognized that there was a gap in terms of resources for other health care providers."

When the new curriculum is finished this spring, the Blending Team will distribute it to the ATTCs for use in their local areas.

"On-site training will be available in the 14 regions of the ATTC Network, which covers all states and U.S. territories," said Karl D. White, Ed.D., ATTC project officer at CSAT. In addition to the curriculum, the training package will include a brochure, fact sheets, a bibliography, and a CD-ROM.

"We want to offer as many opportunities as possible to provide an effective introduction to this new treatment opportunity," said Team Leader Thomas E. Freese, Ph.D., director of the Pacific Southwest ATTC in Los Angeles, CA. "For buprenorphine to be effective, counselors must have information about the medication itself and its use in the treatment process. Only then can a coordinated system of care be developed that addresses a client's medical, behavioral, and psychological issues comprehensively."

To learn more about SAMHSA's ATTCs, visit www.nattc.org. To access the online buprenorphine training course, visit www.ceattc.org. To learn more, contact SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at P.O. Box 2345, Rockville, MD 20847-2345. Telephone: 1 (800) 729-6686 (English and Spanish) or 1 (800) 487-4889 (TDD).

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